VOLUME 15, NUMBER 14 THE STORYTELLING MONTH NOVEMBER 7, 1986
MVP gets underway with consumer council, utility board recruiting
At the heart of the Tribes' plans for the management of Mission Valley Power (MVP) -- formerly known as the F1IP power division - are two citizen-consumer groups. Recruiting for the 12 people who will be recommending policy began late last month.
The Tribal Council met with members of various local governments in a partially closed meeting in Pablo on Oct. 30 to explain the new
plan of operations that went into effect a few days earlier.
A week later, Council chairman Ron Therriault and Tribal attorney Pat Smith made follow-up calls to commissioners in Lake, Sanders and Missoula counties, asking them to recruit nominees for a seven-member consumer council.
Therriault explained that the commissioners' recommendations would be considered by BIA Flathead Agency superintendent Wyman Babby, who would be appointing the consumer council, the make-up of which would include two MVP power customers from Lake County, and one each from Sanders and Missoula counties. The remaining three would be selected "at large".
Of the seven to be selected by the end of the year, at least one but not more than two will be enrolled Tribal members, Therriault pointed out.
The council will be meeting at least four times a year, and members would
Former councilman Louis Adams became a current councilman after he easily won the Nov. 1 special election. Adams will be representing the Arlee district until Dec. 1987, as a replacement for Kevin Howlett, who resigned this past September.
Adams, who was on the Council from 1978 to 1982, beat four other hopefuls for the 14-month job.
be paid for their time, he added. Its two main purposes will be to recommend policy to the second consumer group, the five-member policy-making utility board to be appointed by the Tribal Council at the end of this month, and to serve as an appeals board for customer complaints.
He said that people interested in being on the consumer council would be told to state their interest and backgrounds in a letter that should go to either Babby (at Drawer A in Pablo) or to their county commissioner - or both.
The utility board, on the other hand, will have five members, all of whom would be appointed by the Tribal Council. While the only qualifications for consumer council membership would be residency (four of the seven) and power-customer status, utility board members would need to have a background in business management. Three of the five will also have to be (Continues on page two)
Canvassed totals for all five were:
Louis Adams, 236
Alvin "Snuse" McClure, 172
Henry "Hank" Baylor, 113
Stella Morigeau, 81
Richard "Dick" Barber, 61
Adams will be sworn in Nov. 7.
Only about one in four eligible Tribal voters showed up at the polls for the Reservation-wide balloting.
Adams to represent Arlee again